


Specimen Jar

by misumaru



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Creepy Hojo (Compilation of FFVII), Gen, It's All Hojo's (Compilation of FFVII) Fault, Spoilers, pre-game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:41:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27215107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misumaru/pseuds/misumaru
Summary: In the Nibelheim basement laboratory, Hojo contemplates one of his less successful experiments.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22
Collections: Spook Me Ficathon 2020





	Specimen Jar

**Author's Note:**

> Squeaking in right on the deadline! For the Spook_Me prompt "Mad Scientist". Massive hugs as always for my wonderful beta LdyBastet! :D

“Blood pressure is stable, other vitals seem normal. No response to external stimulus, but that’s… Hm. What’s this?”

Despite the dim light of the basement lab, a flicker of motion inside the tube caught Hojo’s eye. Barely there, not even noticeable if you hadn’t been paying close attention, but of course Hojo had. A sickly grin spread across his face.

“Thinking of waking up, are you? No, of course not, but maybe you’re trying to tell me you’re not as much of a lost cause as I thought?”

He drew closer, reflection distorting on the murky surface of the specimen container as he did so. There was no further reaction from the occupant, some teenage nobody whose blond hair still insisted on sticking up in wild directions even as he floated in a viscous mass of mako. At least… Hojo assumed he was a nobody. He’d wondered how much he should correct his assumptions after the boy was found unconscious in the reactor with Sephiroth’s bloody Masamune lying at his side. For a man of science like himself, it was deeply unsettling - this reject wasn’t a SOLDIER, that much was certain, but surely a grunt-level soldier like that shouldn’t have had the sheer physical ability to take down the mighty general?

Not that Hojo had ever had a chance to ask. Who was he to turn down such perfect raw material? And if this boy really did have something to do with Sephiroth’s apparent disappearance… Well. The mako and JENOVA cells had been injected, and the boy’s eyes hadn’t so much as fluttered open since. It was almost disappointing, really. Hojo had been on the verge of writing him off as a complete failure – that flicker was the first movement he’d seen in months. 

Was this a sign of something more?

No, probably not. More observation was needed, but it was probably just a random spasm. He’d seen it before, the ones that took to the process so badly that they became little more than insensible husks. Denied their sanity or even the far more interesting transformative properties the cells seemed to grant to the luckiest test subjects. They were the truly fascinating ones, watching the way their bodies twisted and transformed with each application of the varying combinations of cells and mako. It was almost enough to make Hojo wish he could see what effect they would have on an intellect such as himself, but no. A good scientist never experimented on themselves, not unless they were completely sure. And there were so many potential subjects…

This boy, however, was rapidly losing his value. If things didn’t change soon, it seemed like his only fate would be to fester and rot in this dim little basement alongside his fellow survivor. That particular individual had the opposite problem – he wasn’t responding to the treatments either, but he was far too lucid and knew far too much to ever be allowed to see the light of day. 

Despite that, Hojo continued to watch, practically pressed up against the glass as he spoke aloud, lost in thought. 

“Tell me, can you feel her? Her precious cells multiplying inside you and taking you over one by one? Hear her voice in that empty skull of yours?” Another, less scientific thought occurred to him. “Or perhaps you can hear _him_? He isn’t dead, you know. No, he would never be destroyed by anything as insignificant as you. Not my most perfect creation. I wish I had been there to see it, how he embraced his heritage. Was it as magnificent as I imagined? Not that he’d ever acknowledge my role in it, alas…”

He paused. As unresponsive as the boy was, if Hojo let him out, would he simply fall there, useless, or would he drag his limp body along until he found others like himself? The Reunion theory was nothing more than that at the moment, a theory, but he’d seen signs – the increased cellular breakdown in his test subjects, the lack of focus and an intense longing for somewhere, or maybe someone, that they couldn’t quite place… His son was at the centre of it, he just knew it. And when it finally happened, he would be ready. Those unimaginative fools heading up Shinra would finally realise just how little they’d understood.

It wasn’t time yet though. Which meant he didn’t need to decide what to do with this particular subject quite yet. There were others far worthier of his time, in labs far more suited to his needs than this one. Even if he had done some of his best work here.

Hojo flipped the heavy light switch off as he left, the faint glow of mako emanating from the specimen containers bathing the room an eerie green. 

“Perhaps you’ll put on a more entertaining show next time. Try not to disappoint me…”


End file.
